Page 25 of Wild Fire

“Putting the whole becoming-a-dragon-thing aside, I’m not giving up any child of mine to some brotherhood of dragons.”

This was not going well at all. “I am trying to be honest with you. I don’t know what it means anymore. Recently our alpha or leader found his eternal flame to be human, and she became pregnant with his child. The brotherhood did not want to lose his skill and wisdom, so we changed a fundamental tenet of our order. Falkor will remain with his eternal flame and their children. If and when he or she dies or the children reach adulthood, who’s to say, but there are more options now.”

“What would it mean to become drakaina?”

She was a curious mate. When she thought she had no choice, she was willing to fight for her freedom, but now when she believed she would have a say, her curiosity was pricked. It would be best if she believed she could choose her fate, but Warrick knew the truth: he would never let her go. She might choose between human and drakaina, but in the choice of being his eternal flame and sharing his life, the fates had made that choice for them both long ago.

“It would mean a longer life expectancy, better health, and the ability to soar above the clouds with or without me.”

“But no dips in the ocean…”

“Not in your dragon form, although it is safe, up to a point, as a human. We have work to do and plans to make. We will talk again.”

They finished their breakfast and then he cleaned up while she took a shower and pulled on clean clothes. He was just drying the last of the dishes and putting them away when she walked up behind him, wrapping her arms around him and leaning her cheek against his broad back.

“Do you think we’re safe here?” she asked.

“For a few days at least, but you need to check in with your people, and I need to report back to the Phantom Fire. I want to ensure the drakaina that I managed to get out have been returned to their clan and that we have been paid for our completion of the task.”

“You rescued them for money?” she asked incredulously.

“The Phantom Fire are, to be blunt, mercenaries. Although we are an elite class of warriors, our business acumen as mercenaries is not always as good,” Warrick chuckled. “We are hired by those who are in need of our assistance. The joke has always been that it was good that our brotherhood was blessed with riches beyond compare as we often find ourselves on the side that can’t pay us. At least in this case the drakaina belonged to the clan of Ridley Monroe.”

“The billionaire?”

“I don’t know that he has that much money, but he does command an enormous territory and can easily afford our services.”

“And what if he couldn’t have?”

Warrick shrugged. “I suppose I would have rescued them anyway. We can stay here and check in with those with whom we serve, or we can go to a more secure location.”

“Why is it I get the impression you are not telling me everything?”

“You possess all the knowledge you need to destroy me and my kind. I have trusted you with our greatest secrets. Why would I lie?”

“I didn’t say you were lying, but I’m beginning to sense of pattern of evasiveness, which usually means there’s something you don’t want me to know.”

He kept forgetting she was a cop. A detective, and she was damn good at her job. “Let us table further discussions. We have both given our all to catching these slavers for months—you far longer than I. What do you say we go flying again? In fact, let’s put more distance between us and the slavers. We’ll close up here and move to a place I know I can ensure your safety.”

The most rapturous look came over her face. He was sure he could convince her to become drakaina. What he wanted most now was to remove her from the danger she was in. If she had thwarted their plans—and she had—those backing the slavers would be after her. He wanted her where they wouldn’t find her. He wanted her at Dragonwyk—the stronghold of the Phantom Fire.

They put together the bag that contained clothing, computers, and other things they needed and then closed down the mill so that to a casual observer, it would appear as though no one had been there in more than a century. Taking the bag outside, Warrick stripped out of his jeans and grinned at the lustful look that came over his mate’s face.

She was a good match for him in terms of libido. Once he had her where he knew she was safe, he meant to avail himself of all she had to offer. If Falkor could sire a child on a human, Warrick was sure he could do so as well—at least he was willing to spend a lot of time trying.

He stepped back and called forth his dragon. The chaotic storm of lightning, thunder, color, and electricity swirled all around him, and he could feel his shape shifting from man to dragon, and with all the power and fire that were at his disposal.

When the maelstrom faded away, he looked down on her and took heart in the fact that she had no fear of him either as man or dragon.

“You’re really quite beautiful in either form,” she said with reverence.

The form of each dragon resembled or echoed the coloring of their human half or vice versa. Warrick’s dragon was scaled in shimmering hues of crimson, gold, and bronze. He had long horns that swept back from his head and a kind of golden mane halfway down his neck that interspersed with the single row of spikes that fanned out into four rows when they hit his back. His wings were enormous and seemed to be spun out of golden gossamer spread across a bronze frame. No one had ever called his dragon beautiful, and the creature preened beneath her praise.

Dani walked up and ran her hands down his silken scales, testing their feel and resiliency. As the scales shivered under her touch, she watched with awe. “Can you feel my touch like you can when you’re human?”

“Very much so. The dragon and I are one. We feel the same and for the most part think the same. I’d like to convince you he is far more primitive than I, but I don’t know that to be the case. Certainly, our instincts are the same.”

“And you can talk…”

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